NBA 08 Review

Written by: Darren Cartledge Posted: 25th February 2008

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Time to shoot some hoops as the NBA hits PlayStation 3 in Europe.

NBA 08 Details:

	Sports
	PlayStation 3
	Sony
	Sony

Out Now

N/A

Basketball may not be the most popular sport this side of the pond, but that hasn’t stopped Sony bringing their latest NBA based game to European gamers, and for the most part basketball fans here will be glad they did.

NBA 08 features everything you would expect to find in any NBA based title, Quick match, season play and play-offs. NBA 08 also features online play via PlayStationNetwork as well as some more unique game modes. Such as mini-games that allow you to compete in some of the events featured in the NBA All-Star game like the three point shoot out.

NBA Replay is another of the modes featured in NBA 08. This has two variations NBA Replay in which you must achieve key objectives that took place in real NBA games last season. These include things such as scoring a set number of points within a game whilst shooting from the place the real-life player did. Whilst this may sound like a good addition it can be a little limited in scope, if a player scored 27 points you will have to get about 8 of them in a set amount of time, usually around two to three minutes before the challenge is complete and you have to move onto the next.

The other variation of NBA Replay is Game of the Week. This mode plays pretty much the same as the above only the scenarios are from the current NBA season with five new challenges downloaded each week.

Games themselves play pretty well, the games controls are fairly simple to get to grips with, and AI is pretty good and should provide a good challenge on anything other then the rookie setting which is a little to easy. Although having said that, the gap between difficulty settings does seem a little to steep when playing against AI controlled teams.

As you would expect from a Sony title, NBA 08 makes use of the six axis control system, this enables you to perform show boating and defensive moves. For instance you can walk with the ball crossing in between your legs by rocking the controller from side to side or hold the ball preventing a defender trying to reach in by pulling the controller towards you. For the most part it works quite well although when running across court you will often see your players holding their arms in the air because of how you are holding the controller.

One thing that I didn’t like about the games control system was that performing different lay up’s or dunks seems to be completely random. It would have been nice to have a system where you had direct control of the style of the dunk performed.

As you would expect from any major sports title, NBA 08 features the latest team rosters from this season, and for purists out there you can even download the latest trades and signings so teams can start games with their latest line-ups.

As mentioned above the game features multiplayer support via Network play, here you compete against other players in ranked matches. Winning against a player who’s ranked above you gives your rank a larger boost then beating a player ranked lower then you, it’s a nice system that can see you rapidly climb up the rankings. For the most part Network games run lag free with only minor judders being experience during my online sessions.

Visually the game looks pretty good, courts feature a good amount of detail, with nice reflections in the surface, and the only disappointment with the environments is that the crowd is a little lacking. Player models are good and you are able to see players sweat and even the ventilation holes in their jersey’s, whilst animation is more or less spot on, some players tend to run in a strange way and some of the player likenesses are a bit questionable, but other then that there’s nothing to complain about.

NBA 08’s sound has been done to a very high standard, everything from the squeaks of the court floor to the crowd’s chants are all very authentic! The only slight moan I have is that the crowd could have been a little louder, to give the game a bit more atmosphere. This latest NBA game features a new full audio commentary system which works brilliantly and accurately describes the action featured in the game, such as calling fouls or the latest scorer, which usually goes on to give more details of how that player is performing in the game.

Overall NBA 08 is a solid sports title with only a few minor faults, and while it won’t be one of the most successful sports title this side of the pond, it will certainly appeal to fans of the NBA and should certainly keep you occupied through out the season,